Bergeron’s Selke helps Bruins shine on NHL Awards night
Bergeron won the Selke/Photo by S. Bradley
Patrice Bergeron and the writers that vote for the Selke Trophy made sure that the Bruins’ 2011-12 season earned at least one accolade.
While he would definitely trade it for at least a Game 7 win over Washington, Bergeron won the award for the league’s best defensive forward, it was announced in Las Vegas tonight.
It’s Bergeron’s first Selke and the first by a Bruins player since Steve Kasper in 1982.
Boston’s other finalist, Zdeno Chara, finished third in the voting for the Norris Trophy.
Here’s a look at all the winners and the Bruins that earned votes:
Selke Trophy
Winner: Patrice Bergeron (Boston)
Other Bruins receiving votes: Chris Kelly (16th place), Brad Marchand (35th), Tyler Seguin (41st)
Hart Trophy
Winner: Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh)
Bruins receiving votes: Zdeno Chara (12th place), Bergeron (18th)
Calder Trophy
Winner: Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado)
No Bruins received votes
Vezina Trophy
Winner: Henrik Lundqvist (NY Rangers)
No Bruins received votes
Norris Trophy
Winner: Erik Karlsson (Ottawa)
Bruins receiving votes: Chara (3rd place)
Ken Hitchcock and Doug Armstrong of St. Louis won the Jack Adams and GM of the Year Awards, respectively. Neither Claude Julien or Peter Chiarelli garnered any votes.
Lady Byng
Winner: Brian Campbell (Florida)
Bruins receiving votes: Bergeron (13th place), Seguin (46th)
@RD….and for the record, he deserved it. Any true fan of the game, regardless of team allegiance, has to admit that Patch’s comeback this season was remarkable. Put aside all the squabbling over clean hit vs dirty hit, intentional vs hockey play and acknowledge that the kid got hurt. Badly. So to have a season like he did deserves some recognition. It was nice to read that he and Chara have “spoken” and that it is “water under the bridge” as far as he is concerned. Now if the fans could just get over it…
For the record, Pacioretty won the Masterton trophy.
I look at it like this, the hart is the most valuable to their team, but there seems like there is a distinct lack of value put on defense, which I feel in some, if not all cases, is just as important as offensive to a successful team. Case in point, I truly feel J. Quick was by far more important/valuable to his team’s regular season success this year, than Geno. Other people scored for the Pens, but no one else, generally speaking, stopped pucks for the Kings. This becomes far more valuable to the Kings when you consider that they had one of the worst offenses in the league this regular season and a lot, if not more of their wins came in one goal, or one-goal differential games.
With the Selke, yes it’s the best defensive forward, but when’s the last time that someone who didn’t put up decent offensive numbers, as well as being great in their own end, neutral zone, and at the dot win? To me is just seems like Selke winners are one, more complete players and two, more valuable to their team.
It’s all subjective, and just one hockey fan’s opinion, but that’s how I feel. I’m not trying to discount the offensive aspect of the game, or diminish the two-way play of Hart winners or nominees. It just seems, in some cases, that Selke winners are more solid all around players and hence, more valuable to their teams.
the selke is the real hart? that’s an interesting perspective.
Couldn’t be happier for Bergy! The Selke’s the real Hart, IMO, and its distinguishing characteristics are the heart of any successful team. Which, #37 exemplifies through and through every night. Congratulations Sir!